


No Syllabus Could Have Prepared Me

by jaeyongficfest



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Eventual Romance, Exploitation, Fluff, Labor issues, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Whipped jaehyun, everyone loves mark, i love mark here, it gets deep, strangers to enemies to friends to lovers, whipped taeyong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:55:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27650989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaeyongficfest/pseuds/jaeyongficfest
Summary: “—-I hope you understand. Thats why I’ve decided to relocate you to our rural school. You’ll be a substitute teacher there for a few months or so, just until we find a permanent one.” The older explains, his hands clasped across the table.What.WHAT?Relocation. What the actual fuck is happening right now.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	No Syllabus Could Have Prepared Me

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve seen the teacher’s diary so I really love this prompt I’ve chosen. Since the prompter gave a free pass to change it up a bit (thank you so much, prompter), i will be changing the plot a bit but rest assured that the prompter’s requests will still be followed. Enjoy!!

Jaehyun is in utter distraught. He is currently in a one on one meeting with their school Director, Mr. Kim. His head is down, he feels like a child being given an intervention right now. He gripped his knees and with every amount of patience he could muster, he tried his best not to storm out of the room. Meetings like this with Director Kim isn’t something new and Jaehyun has grown accustomed to listening to their Director’s litanies about his performance as a Physical Ed slash swimming coach for the past few months. 

“You’re not a bad teacher, Jaehyun ssi. It’s just that...you know...your co-teachers and I have noticed, even your students, that ever since the accident...how do I say this, you may be physically present, but your mind and heart is not, Jaehyun ssi.” the older explained, face filled with jaehyun assumes is sympathy.

Jaehyun sighs. 

It’s this issue again.

“I’ve noticed that your drive hasn’t been there these days, Jaehyun ssi, and as school Director and as a psychologist...” 

Oh please. You will not psychoanalyze me, old man, Jaehyun mutters to himself. He rolled his eyes, something he pretty much mastered after going through all these talks with the old man. He further listened to Mr. Kim’s speech about how he’s a clinical psychologist and that “he’s seen cases like this before”. 

Jaehyun, with his head still down, is slightly getting annoyed already. He knows where this conversation is going. 

He certainly respects their Director, 100%, he’s a good guy and Jaehyun knows he only means well, but this whole fiasco has been going on for months and he doesn’t think he can handle all these pity speeches anymore.

“Director Kim, with all due respect, I’ve told you countless times, I’m perfectly fine now. The accident was a year ago, I can even swim and do thousands of lapses now—well I’m over exaggerating, but you get the point, right? IM OKAY.” Jaehyun stood up, His Hands flying everywhere as he explained. He thinks doing so would make himself look more convincing.

Mr. Kim just looked at him with the same look he gives him whenever he asks him how he’s been. Pity, just pure pity. And it just makes Jaehyun more furious. He should not be pitied, he doesn’t need it, he’s fine now. 

When Jaehyun is about to speak again, the older man cuts him off and asks him to sit down, voice stern, facial expression somewhat different from earlier. 

“I’ve thought about this for a while now, Jaehyun ssi. I also talked to your mom about my plan—“

“You WHAT?” Oh now he’s furious, alright. Jaehyun is seething from his chair and to be honest, if he didn't have any amount of self control he might have punched their school director already. 

“Jaehyun ssi, let me finish. I’ve been friends with your parents for years. It’s one of the reasons why I haven’t fired you from your job here in my school yet. The other reason is that I completely respect you as a teacher and as an athlete, you’re smart and skilled, Jaehyun ssi.” 

Jaehyun remains quiet. He’s pissed but tries to compose himself. He decided that he’ll just let this one slide again just like the past meetings he’s had with the director. This guy is getting old , although he appreciates the concern, the old man is thinking too much about things that he shouldn’t even be worrying about. Getting bored as time passes, he’s just nodding along to whatever Director Lee is saying.

“—-I hope you understand. That's why I’ve decided to relocate you to our rural school. You’ll be a substitute teacher there for a few months or so, just until we find a permanent one.” The older explains, his hands clasped across the table.

What.

WHAT?

Relocation. What the actual fuck is happening right now. 

Jaehyun is completely dumbfounded. He was just being psychoanalyzed earlier and now he’s being relocated? To rural school? He doesn’t even have any idea on what they do there for fuck’s sake!

When he’s finally processed what Mr. Kim had just said, his brain now starts to go haywire. He needs to come up with the right words to talk his way out of this mess he’s in. 

_Jung Jaehyun do not fuck this up._

“Director Kim, I know you mean well, I do, and I completely appreciate your efforts. Thank you, with all my heart. LIKE REALLY, THANK YOU. But as I've told you earlier, I’m fine now. I don’t see any reason for me to be relocated. so thank you for the gesture, I guess, but it won’t be necessary.” Jaehyun stands up, bows, and heads to the door but the older man stood up as well.

“Jaehyun ssi, I’ve already made a decision. We’ve already prepared your documents. We’ve also notified the head teacher in our school in Sinan that you’ll be helping him there. He felt relieved when he heard the news. Although there’s not much kids he’s been handling, he really needs the help and support.”

“But Director Kim— wait, Sinan?!”

“Yes, Sinan-gun”

“Sinan...in the South?? That Sinan? Director Kim, I think this is a huge mistake,”

“It’s final Jaehyun ssi, either you accept it or I might have to terminate your contract, I’m sorry.” The Director looked at Jaehyun unnervingly. There’s probably no way of getting out of this. He can’t lose his job. He’s already working in a prestigious school, why should he find work in another? 

It’s just a few months right? Nothing could go wrong, Jaehyun thinks. Just a few flies and bugs probably. He can handle it.

“I understand, Director Kim. Thank you for this opportunity.” He responds with a forced smile and places his right hand on his chest.

“It will be a good experience, Jaehyun ssi. Trust me. Go to Johnny ssi after this, he’ll tell you all the details of your relocation. And do contact me if you are in need of any assistance there, not financial of course.” Mr Kim chuckles, obviously pleased with How their meeting turned out.

Accepting defeat, Jaehyun sighs, bows to the director again, and leaves the room.

———————————-

  
  


“How long have you known about my relocation? you traitor!” 

Jaehyun cornered Johnny in his cubicle after his excruciating meeting with Director Lee.

“Well hello, Jaehyun, my bff, it’s a nice day today huh.” Johnny beams at him,sitting straight like an excited puppy waiting to be pet.

Still aggravated by the sudden news, he decided to direct his frustration on to his best friend instead. He snatches the sandwich Johnny has been eating and finishes it up in one bite.

“My day has not been nice, thank you for asking, traitor,” he replies.

“ Ah, so Director Kim talked to you already, I assume,” without a single hint of annoyance, Johnny just giggles at him. The taller man pats Jaehyun’s head. Jaehyun realizes it’s kinda similar to how johnny usually pats the heads of his grade school students whenever they do something trivial or downright stupid. 

“STOP MESSING WITH ME, HYUNG” Jaehyun shouts (with no ill-intent of course). 

“Answer me already!”

Johnny adjusts himself, his demeanor now shifting to something more serious. Jaehyun takes this as a cue to listen to the older. 

“Director Kim talked to me 2 weeks ago and explained everything to me. I just finished preparing your documents yesterday. That’s why I left for Sinan-gun last week, I told you I had to meet up with a teacher there, remember?” Johnny explains.

“So you’re saying you’ve been doing this behind my back for 2 weeks already?” Jaehyun feels betrayed right now to be honest. Why would his best friend allow this to happen?

But it’s Johnny, and he knows his friend usually doesn’t do things out on a whim. He plans things out and thinks through it a lot. 

“Can I explain myself now, Jung Jaehyun?” The older sighed. Clearly exasperated by how Jaehyun is acting. 

“Director Kim told me about his observations of you, they were bull of course and I didn’t pay any mind to them. But I do know you Jaehyun-ah. You’re fine physically, I get that. That’s great. I’m proud of you, but you and I both know that you’re still not over with what happened.”

“Hyung I’m over—“

“You’re my friend Jaehyun-ah, and I also consider you as a younger brother so I know you. I care about you a lot. Regardless of what that old geezer said about you, I also do think that you need this relocation. Just treat it as a break. I personally know the teacher you’ll be working with, Taeyong’s a nice guy! Very VERY cute too, mind you. You’ll be in great care. You might actually learn a few things from him.” Johnny gave him a reassuring smile and patted his shoulder. 

That’s Johnny Hyung for you. Jaehyun knows he’ll never be able to convince Johnny once he’s already set his mind into it. 

“Fine. Just tell me all the details, “ he responds in defeat.

Johnny shifts back and brings out a large brown envelope with all of Jaehyun's travel documents and other requirements, excitement now apparent.

“You will Be staying at the teachers’ dorm, of course, food and living expenses are handled by the school. Not sure about the electricity tho..... uhh never mind that—“

“What’s wrong with the electri—“

“Where were we? Oh right, you’ll meet Taeyong at the station, he’ll explain everything you’ll need to know there. Everything is in here, your tickets, permits, and other documents. I already prepared everything for you, you’re welcome, I will be expecting a good meal once you come back, probably with a girlfriend or BOYFRIEND, we’ll never know..” 

Jaehyun rolls his eyes and chuckles at his friend’s antics. He doesn’t need a partner right now, so no thank you.

“All you need to do later when you get home is pack up your stuff, like, literally. You leave for Sinan-gun tomorrow.” Johnny says nonchalantly.

Jaehyun’s eyes widened with the abrupt news.

“You’re kidding me.”

“I’m not. You should probably say goodbye to your students after this by the way. Don’t worry about the teachers, though, we’ve already notified them about your relocation, so no need for send-off parties.” Johnny smiles at him. He looked like he just completed the first step of his mission. 

Jaehyun is still in shock by everything that’s happening to him. He was literally just drowning himself in tears and stuffing his face with ice cream yesterday while watching The Notebook in his apartment and now he’s getting bombarded with news that he’s moving to the south tomorrow for a year? god he needs a drink.

“I’m having a headache. Everything’s just too sudden for me. It will probably sink in later when I start packing up.” Jaehyun laughs. He decides to just take everything in, little by little. He can handle this, he convinces himself. 

“Don’t worry I’ll help you out later then let’s go out for a drink. You’re gonna be okay, Jaehyun-ah. You need the fresh air. And I told you, Taeyong and the kids are nice. You’ll have fun. It will be great, I promise.” Johnny stood up and pulled Jaehyun in for a tight hug. 

“Thanks, Hyung. For everything.” 

“No Biggie”

  
  


Jaehyun left Johnny’s cubicle and decided to go to the gym first and inform his swimming students about him moving. Some of his students were disheartened by his news but he explained that he’ll be back in no time. He cheered them on for their upcoming competition and promised that he’ll treat them with bbq when he comes back. He visited some of the other classes he was teaching that semester as well and bid them farewell. 

It was kind of bittersweet but Jaehyun felt that it’s unnecessary to be sad at all because he knows he’ll be back in a few months. 

This isn’t a permanent relocation. 

———————————————————

At exactly 6:00 in the morning, 28 year old Lee Taeyong starts his day with cleaning all the rooms of the school. It’s his usual routine every weekend but this day is quite special and so he brings out his newly-bought cleaning materials and his trusted Febreeze. He wants the place to be as home-y as possible, but spotless, still. 

He’s excited. Too excited because apparently, his new co-teacher from Seoul will be arriving today.

He has always wanted to have a full-time co-teacher but unfortunately, they always quit a few weeks later. Taeyong doesn’t get it, he loves the school and the kids too much and that itself, really outweighs the struggles he experiences here in Sinui -myeon. They’re the only reason why he’s here. 

The only reason why he stayed here.

Well he’s not exactly alone with handling the school though. There’s Sicheng, Renjun’s older brother, who usually volunteers as a teaching assistant at the school but he’s still a college student so he isn’t really available all the time. Then there’s Doyoung whom Taeyong met during his first day here at Sinui-myeon, he immediately became a good friend of his. Doyoung’s son, Haechan, and daughter, Yeri, are some of taeyong’s students as well and so Doyoung helps out once in a while in the school whenever taeyong needs assistance. 

Being the principal, teacher, and caretaker of the school at the same time, Taeyong clearly has a lot on his plate so a helping hand would be greatly appreciated. 

And so when he got a call from Johnny that his friend, Jaehyun, from the main school branch will be relocating here and work with him, Taeyong felt elated. After dropping the call, he ran to Doyoung’s house and tightly hugged his friend, too happy because of the news. 

He got a little pissed when he got a call from Director Kim as well, that old jerk. Taeyong still hates his guts, but they remained civil with each other while talking on the phone. The director also explained the relocation of one of his teachers and requested for taeyong to make him feel as comfortable as possible. Taeyong agreed of course, he’s not a jerk like him.

Taeyong made it his mission to make his co-teacher fall in love with the school and the job overall. When Johnny visited him and asked for assistance with Jaehyun’s documents, Taeyong made sure that everything was properly settled. He also didn’t hesitate to ask Johnny a few things about Jaehyun, like his favorite food or if he has allergies, just basic stuff he could prepare before the younger arrives. 

Of course Johnny ended up teasing him about it. He shares that jaehyun is single and is really a nice guy and that they would definitely hit it off. Johnny showed him a picture of jaehyun and Taeyong definitely was frozen for a moment. Jaehyun was extremely handsome, and yes, he’s taeyong’s type. Taeyong didn’t blurt that out to Johnny of course and just laughed it off, lightly fanning himself as he felt his cheeks burn. 

It was tempting but for now, the school is taeyong’s priority. If they do hit it off, then whatever happens, happens. 

The last room he finished cleaning was Jaehyun’s bed room. He made sure to make it as cozy as possible even if the room is not that spacious. He also bought an extra duvet for jaehyun just in case it gets too cold for him at night. He sighs triumphantly, he’s finally done with 3 hours to spare before he drives to the bus station and picks Jaehyun up. He glances at the placard he and the kids prepared yesterday and smiled. He already informed the kids about Jaehyun beforehand and made sure to remind them to be in their best behavior once classes with the new teacher begin. It was Renjun's idea to make the placard and draw around Jaehyun's name. The kids definitely enjoyed making it and were obviously excited as well to meet the new teacher. Taeyong was excited too, of course. He just didn’t show it that much.

After taking a shower, Taeyong pondered on what to wear, he felt stupid and was slightly panicking. He just really wanted to make a good impression on Jaehyun, they’re going to be working together, so it’s expected that they should have a smooth and harmonious co-teacher relationship, that’s it.

He called Doyoung and asked him to come to the school real quick. 

“hhhhhh no way hyung, I don’t want to,” Doyoung, his ever loving friend whines.

“Doyoung-ah please help me out it’ll just be a second. don’t be such a brat!” Taeyong begs. He hates begging to Doyoung but he knows the younger won’t be able to resist him.

Doyoung complained that he hasn’t even met jaehyun yet and he’s already acting like a love sick fool. Taeyong of course denies the accusation and explains that he just really wants to have a good relationship with Jaehyun.

“Yeah yeah, whatever, even your students wouldn’t even believe you,” Doyoung retaliates and hangs up.

“Oh my god, even the kids?” Taeyong throws his phone on his bed and covers his face with both hands in embarrassment. He has to pull himself together, he needs to be professional. He taps his face a few times and takes a deep breath.

“Okay, you got this, Taeyong, just remain calm when you meet him, act normal, just go with the flow,” taeyong repeats it like a mantra and stops immediately when he hears Doyoung call for him and enters his room.

“Hyung, you’re just gonna pick him up the fuck are you wearing?” Doyoung laughs at him, seeing the black turtleneck and dress pants he’s currently wearing.

“That’s why I called you doie stop laughing!!” Taeyong complains.

“You’re hopeless, I’m telling you,” Doyoung snickers. He went straight to taeyong’s closet and took a pair of black ripped skinny jeans, a white shirt, and a black plaid polo. 

“There, wear those, you’ll look hot. Joy recommended them,” Doyoung says proudly. 

Taeyong immediately changed his clothes and faced his standing mirror, a bit astonished because he did look hot. Bless you, Joy. 

“I know, I know, my wife and I are amazing, I know, come on say it,” Doyoung lightly teases which made taeyong laugh. 

“Fine your WIFE is amazing, not y—-“ Taeyong wasn’t able to finish what he was going to say when he heard someone crying and calling for him from outside. He and Doyoung immediately looked at each other in worry and ran out of his room, realizing that it was a kid’s voice. 

“MR. LEEEEEEEE”

“MR. LEEEEE, PLEASE HELP,” cries the 10 year old boy. Mark was standing by the deck of the school, hands curled into fists as he heaved heavily, wanting to suppress his cries so as to not gather attention from the people passing by. He wipes his tears with his right arm as he sees his beloved teacher running towards him and feels the heavy feeling in his chest slightly dissipate.

“Mark, what happened, love? Why are you crying? Are you hurt anywhere?” Taeyong panics, he knelt and hugged the kid immediately. His heart shattered as he felt Mark stutter and choke his words. Doyoung is completely baffled as well, kneeling beside his son’s best friend.

Taeyong now faces Mark to him, holding both his hands gently. 

This is the first time he has seen his eldest student cry and Taeyong hopes that this will be the last.

“M-mr. Lee—- my m-mom,” Mark tries to explain but he still can’t stop sobbing. 

“Okay, can you bring me to her? Is she hurt?” Taeyong asks carefully, not wanting to further panic the kid. Mark nodded and held Taeyong’s hand tightly. With this, Taeyong hugs Mark again and finally stands. 

“Doyoung, please watch over the school for a while, we’ll be back in a few hours,” Taeyong says hurriedly to his friend. 

“Wait, what about Jaehyun, you’re supposed to pick him up remember?”

Oh right. Taeyong forgot about that. He stops for a second remembering the amount of stuff he prepared for this day, but then he glances at the black haired boy beside him holding his right hand. 

This is his priority.

“I’ll call Sicheng, he has evening classes today so can probably pick Jaehyun up. And I’ll probably be back when they arrive so it’ll probably be alright. thanks doie!” Taeyong shouts to his friend as he and Mark leave.

——————————————

“Yes mom, I packed everything I needed. Yes, even my vitamins, mom just—- don’t worry okay? You literally connived with Director Kim in making me accept this offer, I still haven’t forgotten, mom.” Jaehyun teases. He’s not angry at his mom at all; he tried his best to understand whatever their reasons were for making him do this, he really did. It’s just that Jaehyun is still in denial about everything, he’s well-aware of it, he just doesn’t wanna acknowledge it—he’s that stubborn. 

After a long train ride to Sinan, Jaehyun is now on a bus to sinui-myeon, spending his hours googling places in the area that he can visit. If they wanted him to take a breather, he might as well do some sight seeing on the island, right?

What irks Jaehyun though, is that most of what he’s seeing online and outside are literal fields, mud, rivers, and more fields. 

After a few hours, he finally reaches the bus station. As he steps down the bus, amongst the sea of people waiting for the passengers, he sees a tall lanky guy holding up a placard with his name written on it. He also didn’t fail to notice the different-colored doodles that were obviously drawn by kids surrounding his name. Cute, he thinks. He tightened his grip on his luggage and fixed a smile when their eyes met. This is it. You can do this Jaehyun, just a few months, he mutters to himself.

When Jaehyun finally approached him, the guy places down the placard and offers his right hand for a handshake. 

“Hi! So you’re Jaehyun? I’m Sicheng, I'm a volunteer from the school.”

Jaehyun returns the handshake, confusion apparent on his face since he thought Taeyong’s gonna be the one who’ll pick him up at the station. Well, whatever.

“Hey, yeah I’m Jaehyun. Thanks for picking me up, Sicheng-ssi. It’s my first time here and I’m not really good with directions.” Jaehyun scratches his head, eyes trying to scan the place and the people around them.

“no problem! And just call me Sicheng, we’re of the same age anyway, Taeyong Hyung told me, let’s go.” Sicheng ushers him outside and off to the parking lot. There he sees a run down white truck, numerous baskets filled with vegetables at the back. 

“I hope you won’t mind our mode of transportation, Jaehyun, people around here are not really that...well-off unlike in Seoul,” Sicheng says, somewhat embarrassed. He helped Jaehyun in putting his luggage at the back and assisted him as well with climbing into the passenger seat. 

If jaehyun’s gonna be honest, this would be his first time riding something like this, which explains his struggle in climbing up the truck. But he’s not some snobby rich guy that shames other people for their social status, his parents didn’t raise him like that. He starts to feel self-conscious, thinking if he did something that might have given Sicheng the impression that he has a trashy personality. 

“Of course not, I don’t mind it at all. This is pretty cool! You know what, I actually envy you, I don’t even have a car of my own.” Jaehyun responds sincerely, hoping that his new found friend would understand that he’s not like the stereotypical City guy most people know of.

Sicheng nods and responds with a smile as a form of acknowledgement.

“Taeyong Hyung wanted to fetch you himself and tour you around first before you go to the school but we had an emergency earlier so he asked me to fetch you instead. But I have classes after this so I can show you around like what Taeyong Hyung wanted, we’ll have to go straight to the school, I’m sorry.” Sicheng explains as he starts the engine of his truck.

“It’s fine, I’ll probably just ask Taeyong ssi. About the emergency though, I hope it’s nothing serious, are the students involved?” Jaehyun asks in concern. 

Jaehyun noticed that Sicheng hesitated for a second before facing him. “Oh it’s nothing serious, don’t worry about it, Hyung just needed to meet one of his student’s parents,” Sicheng responds, obviously trying to cut the conversation short.

Jaehyun nods, deciding not to pry further and just focus on the scenery outside. 

There’s really not that much to be honest, aside from the port area, a few buildings here and there and small houses, it’s pretty much just fields and mountains around the area of Sinui-myeon.

“Find anything interesting? This will be your view for a year, you’ll have to get used to it.” Sicheng laughs.

“A year? Oh no, I’ll be here just for a few months,``Jaehyun explains.

“Huh.. Taeyong hyung and Johnny hyung told me you’ll be staying here for a year, that’s weird,” Sicheng answers carefully, a little worried about how Jaehyun's expression changed.

Director Kim said that it was only for a few months, Jaehyun assumed something like 5-6 months, not A WHOLE YEAR, though.

  
  


“Oh.. haha.. I probably heard it wrong then...” Jaehyun says dryly. He has to talk to Johnny later.

Jaehyun realized that sicheng probably felt him panic a little so he decided to change the topic.

“What’s this place known for anyway? I’ve tried to research a bit but I didn’t find much. we’ve passed through a lot of farms and fields, vegetable imports, perhaps?” Jaehyun asks,eyes still glued to the view outside. The sceneries here are indeed beautiful though, Jaehyun admits. It’s completely different and much calmer than the bustling streets of Seoul. 

“Well, yeah that too, my father sells vegetables in the market, we get them from Doyoung’s farm, you’ll probably meet him later. But we’re more known for....salt, I guess.” Sicheng explains, he shifts, somewhat uncomfortable with the topic. “Most of what you saw earlier were salt farms, there’s a lot of it around here.” Sicheng adds. 

“Oh, cool.” Jaehyun responds, not wanting to dwell much further into the topic.

Their car ride lasted for almost an hour. During those hours, Jaehyun already learned a lot about Sicheng and pretty much a few things about the school. Sicheng is in his last term in college, he’s majoring in General Education in a public college, and that his little brother, Renjun, is one of Taeyong’s students. 

What Jaehyun slowly realized though, is that whenever he would tell a story or something interesting about the school, Taeyong was always mentioned, usually to praise him and how he’s so nice. Something similar happened when he went out for drinks with Johnny last night. Who is this Taeyong guy? What’s with all the hype?

“This Taeyong you keep on talking about, he seems like a nice guy, Johnny also told me that he’s nice, is he really though? we’ll probably get along well, right?” Jaehyun realizes that he just started a conversation focusing on Taeyong, which is not weird at all, right? They’ll be working together so it’s normal to ask about him.

Sicheng glanced at him for a moment and raised his brow. “Having a crush on your co-teacher already, Jaehyun? You haven’t even met him yet,” Sicheng teases. 

Jaehyun’s face turns red at the sudden teasing. It’s true, he has no clue what Taeyong looks like yet. Johnny refused to show him a picture of the said teacher, saying that “it’ll ruin the surprise”. 

Jaehyun had no clue what he was talking about.

“I don’t have a crush on him, I’m being serious here, Sicheng, cmon just tell me more about him,” Jaehyun lightly pulls Sicheng’s sleeve and gives him an innocent smile.

“Hey I’m driving! Yes, he’s not straight. Yes, he’s single. You’re welcome, Jaehyun,” Sicheng responds and laughs immediately at Jaehyun's guilty reaction.

“Thanks, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. Cmon other deets?” Jaehyun pats sicheng’s shoulder.

“Nah, it’s better to just get to know him personally. He’s amazing Jaehyun, you seem like a good person as well so I’m pretty sure you guys will get along.” Sicheng assures him.

Well that made Jaehyun feel a lot better. 

“Oh, there's just one important thing when it comes to TY hyung....” Sicheng adds in suspense.

“What. don’t be like that!!” 

“Love the kids and the school whole-heartedly. Then you’re good.” Sicheng looked at him seriously for a moment and turned to focus on the road again. 

“Love the kids and school, got it.” Jaehyun nods in agreement.

_That’s easy. I’m so full of love,_ Jaehyun thinks to himself.

“Stop thinking about TY hyung you fool, you’ll have plenty of time later. we’re almost there, fix yourself up.” Sicheng reminds him.

And so they arrived at the school and when he saw it, Jaehyun was left dumbfounded, again. 

This whole experience just keeps on surprising him.

He expected the school to be a small building, probably enough for 15-20 students, they did tell him beforehand that they’ll just be teaching 4th to 5th graders. 

He didn’t expect this.

He didn’t expect to be welcomed by a boat school? Boat house? 

  
  


And said school is at the edge of a lake.

  
  


what the hell is happening.

  
  


Jaehyun stayed still, legs frozen from where he’s standing, still in shock from the view in front of him. Johnny didn’t tell him anything about the school being like this. He obviously knew about it, that jerk. Stuck in a trance, he tries to digest the view of the school bit by bit. It’s a wooden house boat hybrid, Jaehyun realizes, with a flag pole by the deck, and lots of handmade streamers. 

  
  


Jaehyun is so SO confused right now. 

Well it doesn’t entirely look bad, but it’s just not what Jaehyun expected, not what he was CLEARLY informed about. 

This is ridiculous. He’s gonna give Johnny a piece of his mind later, Jaehyun mutters to himself.

  
  


What caught his attention though, was the sight of a guy with pink hair coming out of said boat school.

“You’re heeeere!” The guy with pink hair yells with excitement, running frantically to where Jaehyun and Sicheng were standing. 

Said guy with pink hair is pretty, Jaehyun notes. 

Pretty. So pretty he felt his cheeks burn. This person is the most gorgeous human being he’s ever laid eyes on. 

So this is what Johnny was talking about, this was the surprise.

_I’m gonna punch Johnny hyung when I get back. I swear to god._

Pink haired guy was wearing a black plaid polo and a white shirt underneath paired with ripped jeans and oh— he tripped, is he okay? 

Is this allowed? Are people this pretty and endearing allowed to exist?

“Hey Taeyong Hyung, sorry we’re a bit late.” Sicheng responds. He notices that Jaehyun is still staring at Taeyong, obviously speechless. He flicked Jaehyun’s forehead with all his might to wake him up. 

Jaehyun screams in pain, massaging his forehead lightly. “What was that for!?” he whispers angrily to Sicheng.

“Ya, Jaehyun, you look embarrassing right now, get it together,” Sicheng looked at him pointedly, eyes throwing daggers at him.

“Are you guys okay? What’s wrong, why did you flick his forehead, Sicheng?” Taeyong asks, now in front of the two, a little confused but manages a small smile at both of them. 

“There was a bug on his forehead, Hyung. see there’s another one over here,” Sicheng points and smacks the back of jaehyun’s head, then smiled innocently at him. 

“thanks, I guess,” Jaehyun responds in defeat, hand massaging the back of his head. 

Taeyong cackles at the two, like literally cackles and Jaehyun is pretty sure it reminded him of the seals he saw at an aquarium once.

The weird thing is though, why does he find it endearing too. 

He’s doomed.

He felt his breath hitch when said pretty guy with pink hair turned to fully face him with a beautiful smile on his face. 

“Hey I’m Taeyong, I hope you’ve heard only good things about me from Johnny and Sichengie over here,” Taeyong introduces himself shyly and offers a handshake. Jaehyun accepts and offers his signature smile back, the one with the dimples, of course. 

“O-oh, I’ve heard lots of great things, alright. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, taeyong-ssi,” Jaehyun responds, trying to keep his cool. 

Taeyong’s big innocent orbs stare at him, Jaehyun composes himself, not wanting to embarrass himself, and hoping that his ears won’t turn red and embarrass him even more.

Sicheng coughs in the background and completely startles the two. 

“Yeah I’m still here. Thanks for noticing. Anyway, I gotta go to class now, see you on Tuesday, taeyong Hyung.” Sicheng gives taeyong a side hug. 

“Thank you so much for everything, sichengie. I really appreciate it.” Taeyong answers, holding sichengs hand firmly. 

Sicheng turns to Jaehyun and offers a handshake again, “see you next week, Jae,take care of ty Hyung, got it?”.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about but yes, I will, I guess, Sicheng, you little shit.” Jaehyun mutters, a little self conscious with taeyong just behind them. 

Sicheng winks at him and walks back to his truck. And when Sicheng drove off, leaving Jaehyun with just Taeyong beside him, he mustered up all his confidence to turn to the older. 

“So, care to give me a tour?” 

“I would love to, Jaehyunie,” taeyong giggles, offering his hand for Jaehyun to take. “You’ll love it here, I promise!” Taeyong added, excitement apparent on his face and lightly pulled jaehyun towards the boat school.

——————————

The boat school can be divided into three parts, the first part being the spacious deck outside and the second being the classroom, which jaehyun noticed has only 6 seats. He learns that they’re little boat school only has 6 students ever since and that taeyong is currently teaching a mix of four 4th graders and 2 fifth graders. He said he promised the kids not to share their names yet to jaehyun because the students wanted to introduce themselves to jaehyun on Monday in their own little ways. The last part of the school is the “teachers’ dorms” at the back of the classroom which has a shared kitchen, dining, bathroom, small lounge area, and 2 separate bedrooms. 

It’s quite spacious, jaehyun thinks, but still, he remembers that they’re currently floating on a lake. 

He watches Taeyong explain every knick knacks and corners of each room, making sure that he was familiarized with the stuff they have. He learns that they rarely have cellphone signal from where the school is currently standing so Taeyong apologized in advance.

“I’ll tell you a tip, go hang out at Doyoung’s restaurant nearby, the cell service there is superb, if you want to, I’ll also give you their WiFi password, just keep it a secret, okay?,” Taeyong giggles. And jaehyun just stares at him in awe. Clearly speechless at how cute this human being in front of him was.

“i-ill remember that, thanks for the tip,” jaehyun responds, trying to wipe the stupid smile off his face. He really can’t help but smile and giggle at everything Taeyong does and says.

“And this will be your room, I’m sorry it’s not much, but if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask me, okay Jaehyunie?” Taeyong assures him, his big orbs staring directly at Jaehyun. He really needs to get used to it.

His room is probably half the size of his bed room in his apartment back in Seoul. It’s not that he’s complaining tho, but he’s probably gonna need time to adjust fully. It’s not that bad of a room anyway, it has a bed with clean sheets, a heater, a small closet, a small desk and chair, and a lamp. He’s thankful that they have a generator, he doesn’t know if he’ll make it if they don’t have electricity. 

“It’s great! It actually exceeded my expectations, no offense of course, but this is quite a new experience for me,” Jaehyun explains, scratching his head, quite embarrassed. He didn’t want to seem like a snotty city kid again, most definitely not to taeyong. 

What surprised Jaehyun though is that Taeyong didn’t seem shocked nor offended at all. Taeyong smiled at him and placed his right hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder. “

“It’s okay, I completely understand. To be honest, my reaction was actually worse when I first got here—- until I got to know the people and the kids. I’m a city kid as well, Jaehyun, so I know everything is a bit overwhelming for now. But don’t worry okay? I’ll be here and Sicheng and doie, joy, and kids. We’ll all be here. Let’s support and help out each other from now on, okay?” Taeyong lightly taps his shoulders again and heads to the door. “Call me if you need anything, I’ll go and make dinner as a welcoming gift!”

This is crazy, jaehyun thinks, how is this human being real? There’s no way a person this beautiful is this nice as well. There’s gotta be a flaw (jaehyun hopes there’s none).

Don’t jinx it Jaehyun, god you’re so stupid.

“Yes, Thank you, taeyong-ssi”

“Just Taeyong’s fine, okay Jaehyunie?”

When Taeyong left, Jaehyun decided to start fixing his things and fully settle in while taeyong made dinner. 

He looks at his room when he’s finally finished with his things, fully taking in everything that’s happened today. He’s really doing this, huh. He takes a deep breath as he closes his eyes, listening to the sounds of crickets outside and light movement of the lake surrounding them. 

This is it Jaehyun, he tells himself.

His phone rings which wakes him up from his reverie and when he sees the name of the caller, he snickers, mustering all his pent up frustrations again and answers with a loud greeting for his hyung.

“WELL IF IT ISN’T THE TRAITOR, YOU ACTUALLY HAD THE GUTS TO CALL ME RIGHT NOW?” jaehyun literally shouts at his phone, making sure Johnny would hear every word he just said. 

“Jesus Christ jaehyun, were you trying to damage my eardrum? Why are you pissed again?you just got there——-OH,” Johnny deadpans.

“OH alright, yeah you’re gonna get an earful hyung. First of all, why the hell am I here, in this boat, for a year, hyung, for a year!” jaehyun asks, frustration apparent in his tone. 

“I’m sorry okay, I know you would’ve backed out if I told you it was a boat school. It's completely unexpected , I know, and I’m sorry for not telling you about it,” Johnny responds, obviously ashamed for lying to his friend. 

“Unexpected? That’s the understatement of the year! It’s a boat school. Is it because I’m a swimmer? Is this why y’all made me go here? Because it just doesn’t make any sense, to be honest,” jaehyun says, exasperated.

  
  


“Jaehyuna, listen. It’s just like what I’ve told you yesterday, you need a breather, a new environment, that’s it. I’m pretty sure you’ll get to learn a lot of things there as well. Go train there as well, if you want, no ones stopping you. Just be sure to help out in the school, okay?” 

Jaehyun sighs deeply. He’s getting a headache again and he’s hungry. 

“Hyung, this is crazy, I didn’t sign up for this,”

“ I know Jaehyuna, but it’s just for a year, okay? You’ll live.”

“Just for a year, and I’m done...”

“Yep, now shut up with your whining, so.... you’ve met taeyong huh?” Johnny teases.

“Shut up hyung, I can literally imagine your stupid face right now, stop” 

“Hey I’m just asking!! So he’s cute ri—“ 

“Bye, hyung.”

Jaehyun hangs up on Johnny even before he could finish his sentence. He does not want taeyong to overhear them talking about him. 

Speaking of taeyong, he’s probably done cooking by now so jaehyun decides to leave his room and go straight to their shared kitchen.

What welcomes him is a huge feast of various dishes on the dining table. Jaehyun is in awe and he couldn’t help but smile at the view of taeyong, his back facing him while he preps other things in their kitchen. Why does this seem utterly domestic, Jaehyun thinks. He can’t help but squeal inside, but of course he decides to hold it in and plays it cool. 

“Taeyong, this is a lot, you didn’t have to cook all of this,” Jaehyun tells taeyong who’s still not facing him. 

After a few seconds, taeyong still didn’t respond nor bothered to face him. 

“Uhh..Taeyong? You need help with that?” Jaehyun asks, a bit weary that taeyong is still not facing him. When he decides to approach the other, that’s when Taeyong faces him, the sparkle in his eyes now gone and left with a forced smile on his face. 

“It’s okay, I’m done with everything, Mr. Jung, dig in,” Taeyong responded dismissively and placed the last dish he was preparing on the table.

“Call me when you’re done eating, I’ll take care of the dishes. I’ll be in my room,” and then Taeyong proceeded to his room and closed his door.

Mr. Jung? 

Jaehyun felt his heart being broken into pieces and he didn’t know why. It’s just a name though but he felt like crying.

What happened to ‘Jaehyunie’?

Jaehyun remained still from where he’s standing, he felt confused and didn’t know what to respond nor how to react with Taeyong's sudden change in demeanor. 

Is he really supposed to finish all of the food on the table? He thought he’ll be eating dinner with taeyong. He wanted to get to know him more too. Jaehyun felt disappointed and just decided to eat by himself and finish up all the food prepared. He didn’t want to put taeyong’s effort to waste.

And the food tasted amazing, so yeah, he was able to finish all of it. 

After eating, he didn’t bother taeyong anymore and did the dishes himself. He still felt a little scared and anxious, wondering how taeyong would interact with him again. Did he say anything offensive to him? 

Before he proceeded to his room, he decided to talk to Taeyong again and greet him good night, he just didn't want the evening to end with this weird feeling inside of him. 

And so he knocks on taeyong’s door lightly, hoping the other is still awake. 

“Uhm Taeyong? The food was amazing, thank you, really. And I did the dishes already so don’t worry about it. I’ll be heading to bed now...uhm..good night, I guess?” Jaehyun says shyly, anticipating the other’s response. 

....

“Uhm...okay, see you tomorrow..”Jaehyun retreats to room until he hears shuffling from Taeyong's room.

Jaehyun waits a little and is surprised when the door opens and Taeyong comes out in his Pokémon pajamas.

“Good night, mr. Jung” taeyong says immediately. He didn’t even wait for jaehyun to respond and shut his door once again. 

Did he do something wrong? Jaehyun is so confused right now or is he just imagining things. Did he say anything weird? Or is taeyong really like... that. They were fine just earlier, what changed? 

Maybe he took too long with fixing his stuff and taeyong got pissed waiting? Jaehyun rubs his face, exasperated from all the unnecessary stress he’s been getting today.

He decides to not stress over it anymore and calls it a day. If he’s still acting weird tomorrow, yeah he probably did something wrong to piss taeyong off.

———————————

Jaehyun wakes up early, showers, and preps up; he plans to make taeyong breakfast as an apology for whatever he did yesterday, if he really did anything to piss the guy off. They’ll be living and working together in the same roof for quite a while so he doesn’t want to cause problems to the other.

He tried to ask Johnny for advice on what taeyong what might like to eat for breakfast but lo and behold, there wasn’t any cell service. Settling for a simple sunny side up and bacon, he took the available ingredients in their refrigerator, taking a mental note that he should probably replace them later. 

Aside from being a professional athlete, jaehyun takes pride in his cooking skills. Even though he’s just cooking eggs and frying some bacon, he adds a touch of his “secret” (MSG to be exact) ingredients to make them a tad more special. 

At 6:30 am, he’s already setting up the table. He sat down, a cup of coffee in his hand, and waited for the older to wake up. He hopes that he didn’t prepare too early, or else the food will get cold, and if he’s being honest, he’s hungry already. 

And as if the gods heard his plea, a sleepy taeyong exits his bedroom, his pink hair all over the place, and drools on the side of his chin. And as if following the smell of the newly-brewed coffee that jaehyun made, with his eyes still closed, he walked straight to the kitchen and picked up a mug, still unaware that jaehyun was sitting at the dining table behind him. Jaehyun watched him quietly, his heart swooning at how Taeyong unconsciously started humming and swaying his hips as he poured coffee into his cup. 

“Uhm, Taeyong?” Jaehyun calls for the older, and as expected, he startles taeyong so much that the latter accidentally pours his coffee on the floor and unfortunately, quite an amount on his feet as well. Taeyong curses due to the burning sensation, nothing but good old coffee to wake you up in the morning, amirite. 

Jaehyun immediately stood up and went to the elder’s side to support him, he took a chair and assisted the other as he sat down.

“Jesus Christ, jaehyun, were you trying to kill me!?” Taeyong shouts at him. Clearly shocked by the older’s outburst, Jaehyun took a step back. 

Great. He pissed the guy off. again. 

“I’m so sorry taeyong I didn’t mean to startle you, I swear. Are you okay does it still hurt? I’m so sorry. We should probably go to a hospital to have your foot checked. It doesn't look like a normal burn, I’ll just clean up the table,then we’ll go, okay?” Jaehyun rambled and started to put the food he prepared aside, panicking.

  
  


Speaking of food, Taeyong now notices the breakfast Jaehyun prepared and he can’t help but feel somewhat guilty, he admits that he overreacted and he shouldn’t have shouted at the younger. 

Taeyong sighs as he watches Jaehyun run around the kitchen. He’s supposed to hate him, why is this peach city boy so darn cute.

“Mr. Jung, calm down,” Taeyong calls for Jaehyun shyly, he’s having a hard time making eye contact with the other and he doesn't know why. 

“Did you prepare the food?” Taeyong asks, obviously Jaehyun did but he just doesn’t know how to start the topic. This stops Jaehyun momentarily from running around and tries to face taeyong but he can’t. Taeyong's face is too intimidatingly beautiful even if he just woke up for Christ’s sake. Jaehyun feels he doesn’t deserve to look at the other in the eye and so he settles on looking at taeyong’s forehead instead, hoping that taeyong won't find it weird.

“Yeah, I did, in return for the food yesterday, which was amazing by the way,” Jaehyun responds shyly, eyes still on Taeyong’s forehead, this is getting weird, Jaehyun hopes the other doesn’t notice.

Taeyong, of course, notices and touches his forehead self-consciously.

“Is there something on my forehead?you’ve been looking at it for awhile,” taeyong asks.

Damn it, Jaehyun thinks. “No! Uhhh you have uhm, it’s because uhm, you have a cute forehead, that’s it. God I’m stupid, can we just change the topic, please? Is your foot okay?” jaehyun rambles, exasperated by the turn of events.

Taeyong stares at him, his brows furrowed and confusion apparent on his face. 

“Okaaay then? And It’s just a minor burn, Mr. Jung, I’m not gonna die from it, can we eat now?” Taeyong answers nonchalantly.

“Oh— okay then, wait I’ll bring the food back” jaehyun responds excitedly, a smile on his face. 

  
  


Taeyong sees the younger’s reaction and he can’t help but smile a little as well. Jaehyun goes all over the kitchen again as he eagerly sets the table up for the second time that morning, undeniably looking like an excited puppy, Taeyong thinks.

The two of them ate their breakfast quietly. the atmosphere was still quite awkward, small conversations here and there. Taeyong didn’t hesitate to commend jaehyun for his cooking, which was kind of unnecessary because all he did was bacon and eggs but nonetheless, taeyong felt the need to compliment the younger as he felt kind of bad for lashing out on him.

They talked, but never the kind of talk that Jaehyun really wanted to have with taeyong. 

Jaehyun, still a little conscious of others, remained quiet. As much as he wanted to know the older more, he was still a little hesitant and so he decided to wait until Taeyong was comfortable to talk to him.

What he didn’t know is that Taeyong on the other hand is quite flustered himself, trying to maintain his composure to not let his cold facade break down because of the dimpled god in front of him.


End file.
